LONDON: AngloGold Ashanti has agreed the terms of a recommended acquisition of Centamin Plc, an established gold producer, whose flagship Tier 1 asset is the Sukari gold mine, which is Egypt’s largest and first modern gold mine, as well as one of the world’s largest producing mines.

Since production began in 2009, Sukari has produced over 5.9 million ounces of gold. Under the terms of the transaction, Centamin shareholders will be entitled to receive 0.07 new AngloGold Ashanti shares; and $0.125 in cash.

The offer value implies Centamin’s entire issued and to be issued share capital is valued at approximately £1.9 billion or US$2.5 billion.

The acquisition of Centamin is a compelling strategic fit, closely aligned with AngloGold Ashanti’s core competencies.

Sukari is a world-class Tier 1 asset with a long life, compelling cost profile (total cash costs of $970/oz and all-in sustaining costs (“AISC”) of $1,196/oz in the 12 months ended 31 December 2023) and attractive development potential.

The addition of Sukari immediately increases AngloGold Ashanti’s annual gold production by circa 450koz to over 3Moz for the 12 months ended 31 December 2023 (subsidiaries are reported on a consolidated basis whereas joint ventures are reported on an attributable basis), with an immediate reduction to combined unit total cash costs and AISC.

AngloGold Ashanti believes it would be a well-suited operator of the Centamin portfolio given its significant breadth of experience and long track record in Africa operating similar large-scale open pit and underground mines.

AngloGold Ashanti is also committed to being a responsible owner, including through its long-established integrated stakeholder engagement approach, strong partnerships with host governments and communities and world-class safety performance, across multiple jurisdictions.

Alberto Calderon, the Chief Executive Officer of AngloGold Ashanti, said: “We are delighted to be announcing today’s Transaction, which will add a Tier 1 asset to our portfolio.

The Transaction is free cash flow accretive in the first full year of production and NAV accretive from day one; it will also offer additional upsides as we leverage our corporate infrastructure and our core competencies in exploration, operations and asset optimisation.

We will build on the good work by the Centamin team to realise the significant upside in Centamin. We look forward to welcoming Centamin’s employees and shareholders to our group in the coming months.”

Martin Horgan, the Chief Executive Officer of Centamin, said: “Centamin stewardship of the Sukari mine from discovery through development and into continual operation since 2009 is a demonstration of the world-class mining potential of Egypt. Completion of the reinvestment phase alongside consistent operational delivery underlines the Tier 1 status of Sukari as a safe, low-cost and large-scale gold producer. Sukari is strategically well placed within the emerging Arabian Nubian Shield.

The transaction will allow our assets to grow as part of AngloGold Ashanti’s larger, diversified portfolio, benefitting from AngloGold Ashanti’s track record of responsibly developing and operating large-scale open pit and underground mines in Africa in close partnership with the host governments and communities.”